The BellRays, preaching and teaching punk, soul and rock

The BellRays, the California punk-rock-soul band who espouse the almost immortal sentiments, “Blues is the teacher. Punk is the preacher,” are in the UK throughout January. They are touring their combination of garage, rock and punk with soul style vocals.

They play 11 dates, alongside special guest support Los Pepes.

Kicking off in Portsmouth on January 15, the run includes stops in Exeter, Bristol, Scotland, Newcastle and Brighton before closing at London’s Oslo.

Flag wavers and footstompers for independence, The BellRays were formed in East LA by Bob Vennum and Lisa Kekaula in 1991 and have been with a number of indie labels since.

“They are just simply one of the best bar bands you’ll see,” says Lounder Than War when they were treating their ears to The BellRays 2018 album Punk Funk Rock Soul Volume 2.

Already there’s a buzz about the band, although to be fair that was from checking out their Facebook page.

“Our audience is anyone of any age, race, or gender who loves music. They love interaction with a band on stage. They like the fact that what we do is real and honest,” say The BellRays, which sounds pretty good.

In their influences the cite The Beatles, Creedence Clearwater, Muddy Waters, Howlin’ Wolf, Cream, Stevie Wonder, Etta James, Oscar Brown Jr., Prince, and Michael Jackson.

And they do it because they must. “Who else is gonna do it?” they ask. Who indeed!

And here’s another gem of wisdom from their website: “It’s never too late to fall in love with The BellRays!”

You can also check them out Twitter and Instagram, as well as all these venues.

Full dates are as follows:

January:

15th – Wedgewood Rooms, Portsmouth

16th – Louisiana, Bristol

17th – Le Pub, Newport

18th – The Phoenix, Exeter

19th – The Lantern, Halifax

21st – Voodoo, Edinburgh

22nd – Broadcast, Glasgow

23rd – The Cluny, Newcastle

24th – Westgate Social Club, Middlesborough

25th – Prince Albert, Brighton

26th – Oslo, London